I'll Be There
by ithinkilikeknivestoomuch395
Summary: It's the summer of sixth grade, and school's almost out for Hollywood Arts Middle School. No one can wait for the summer, but suddenly, Jade has noticed something off about her best friend Cat. She seems quieter and more jumpy than usual. Will Cat be able to open up to Jade about her problem? Or will Jade have to find out herself? Cade friendship.
1. Chapter 1

This story idea came from personal experience. I remember, when I was in first grade, this kid, who originally I didn't like very much, was getting picked on. I stood up for him, and the kids backed off. The person who was getting picked on had special needs, so it was extremely low for the kids to be making fun of him. And I think he's had a HUGE crush on me ever since. Then, recently, I was in an all-school assembly a bit past the middle of the school year(this year), and I was listening to my iPod when I wasn't really supposed to(I was listening to Take A Hint, hahaha...), and the same kid happened to be sitting next to me. I was snapping along to the music, and then he asked me how I snapped, because he couldn't. I tried showing him, but some immature kid in front of us went and tapped on his friend's shoulder and was like, "Wow, look at him! He can't snap! Hahaha!" He was pointing and laughing at the guy I was trying to show how to snap(the same kid who had special needs). I looked the kid who was laughing at him in the eyes, and said, "Quit being an ass, Eon." That really shut him up. It was really effective, because I've heard a few times that that kid also liked me. It felt really great.

Anyway, just thought I'd enlighten you on where this idea came from. Hope you like this first chapter, and this is not a oneshot! Enjoy!

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It had been pouring all day in Los Angeles, California, and the clouds were showing no sign of clearing up anytime soon as Cat Valentine quickly made her way back to her house from Hollywood Arts Middle School. The day had been tiring, to say the least, which it was really making it hard for her to rush home, and her brown hair was already soaked. The events from earlier that day kept her from asking for a ride from her best friend Jade. The recent daily routine had seriously begun to take a toll on her.

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Cat was getting her book from her locker for her next class, which happened to be Accelerated Pre-Algebra. She was glad to have the class with Jade. Suddenly, she heard a voice that appeared in her nightmares sound out from behind her.

"Hey, fat chick," Cat spun around, book and spiral in hand, to see Paul, Nick, and Ryder, her personal bullies, standing behind her, all mischievously smirking as they cornered her to the wall of custom lockers. They were all fairly tall, at least taller than her, and seemingly well-built. Cat didn't understand why they were accepted into this school in the first place, because she didn't think they had really any talent in the performing arts, except for maybe Ryder, who had some singing talent. A lot of the girls in her grade had crushes on him, and he knew it. He was completely full of himself. The only reason any of them were probably in this school was because their parents were rich.

"Please go away," Cat tried staying calm, but she could feel herself growing worried. She whimpered as Nick leaned down and put his face inches away from hers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want to gain weight in _private_?" he snickered.

"Why me?" Cat whimpered. Nick sneered at her.

"Why? Because you're a talentless bitch, no one likes you, and you're annoying as all hell. You bother everyone. But you just don't seem to understand that, so me and my buddies figured we'd come to remind you." With that, Nick ripped her math book and spiral away from her and threw it across the vacant hall. He smirked at Cat evilly as tears began to well up in her eyes, then strode away smugly, with Paul and Ryder following him and shooting dirty glances back in her direction.

Cat sighed, wiped her eyes, then slowly retrieved her Pre-Algebra spiral, along with the book. Walking back to her locker that was still open, she grabbed a pencil, lightly closed her locker, and headed to math just as students were starting to come into the hallway. Luckily, she didn't pass the guys again.

When Cat arrived in the classroom, Jade was already sitting down, examining a new pair of scissors. "Hi, Jade." Cat said as enthusiastically as possible, setting her books in the seat next to Jade's.

_She probably hates me, too. I bet I annoy her_, Cat thought sadly.

"Yeah, hi," Jade said nonchalantly, too fascinated by the scissors and therefore not noticing Cat's lack of cheeriness right away. It wasn't until class started and Jade saw that Cat was being quiet, and not raising her hand to answer any questions, that she realized there may be actually something wrong. Jade waited until the teacher told them to work in partnerships on an assignment to start to interrogate her.

"Cat, what's wrong?" she asked, speaking in a way that made sure Cat knew that she really was concerned.

"What-y? Nothing's wrong. Why'd you think that?" Cat attempted to giggle just to reassure her, but she choked on it, so it came out as more of a nervous laugh.

Sighing, Jade shrugged it off. _Maybe I'll get answers out of her later,_ she thought, turning to their assignment.

"Never mind..."

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_Maybe Jadey really does hate me, and she just feels bad for me so she pretends to like me_, Cat thought as she turned onto her street. Maybe she could ask her straightforward tomorrow.

That was when she suddenly heard the voice she dreaded, coming from directly behind her.

"Where do you think you're going, fat chick?"

Cat spun around to come face-to-face with her worst nightmare-Nick and Paul

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Dun... dun... _DUN._

Review or I'll have to hurt Cat really badly. I mean, I might anyway, but you know... my point is, review and I'll love you. Tell me whatcha think about this first chapter! At first I thought this was going to be only like a little bit longer than a oneshot, like maybe two chapters, but now I have a few more ideas in store for this story than I did before, so it'll probably end up being a bit longer. I now have no idea how long it's going to be though. I actually didn't plan on even starting this story today, but when I did, I ended up finishing the chapter, so here you go! My second fic! Woo! Review and let me know how I did!


	2. Chapter 2

I just planned out the whole story, and I think you guys are seriously going to LOVE the last chapter! Still not sure exactly how long this story is going to be, though, because I haven't cut up the events into chapters yet. Here's the next chapter, and thanks for the reviews! Enjoy~~!

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Cat took a deep breath to try to calm herself, but couldn't keep the worry out of her voice. "What do you guys want?" she could feel her voice cracking at the end as she started backing up, only to be stopped when she felt a thorn bush block her way. The guys just laughed.

"You're lucky Ryder was too chicken to come here with us," Paul smirked while Nick stepped forward, grabbed Cat's arms, and put them behind her back. She winced as he gripped her tiny wrists tightly, bruising them.

Nick leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Tell anyone about this, and you're really going to be sorry." For once, she really wished that there were more houses on her street and more traffic on it. Now that they weren't in school, nothing was holding them back from doing something really bad to her.

Cat braced herself for the worst, and suddenly felt herself being pushed into the thorn bush behind her. She let a quiet sob leave her lips as she felt the thorns dig into various spots in her back, legs, and arms. She felt Paul kick her legs, which were hanging out of the bush, and follow Nick, who was already walking away.

"Why don't you try losing some weight already?" Cat heard Paul call after her between his fits of laughter. She didn't bother trying to hide the tears that she already felt forming in her eyes. They would be covered by the rain, anyway.

Cat did her best to get out of the bush without hurting herself further, but was unsuccessful and whimpered in pain as she felt even more thorns digging into her skin as she stood up. _I really must be fat if they hate me that much_, Cat thought. She couldn't tell if it was the rain or her own tears that were streaking down her cheeks as she ran home.

When Cat entered through the big wooden doorway, she didn't see her mom anywhere, and then remembered that she was taking her brother to his daily doctor's appointment. She ran up to her room right away, dropped her backpack by her bed, then ran into her personal bathroom to clean herself up.

Cat took her purple V-neck off, leaving her in her bright pink tank top. She examined the small cuts on her arms and legs, and decided that none of them were bad enough to have to hide. When her mom came home she could just tell her she decided to walk home and on her way she tripped and fell into a bush. She surprisingly found that her wrists weren't actually bruised, so she wouldn't have to make up an excuse for them.

Cat sighed and walked back into her cheerfully colored room. The happy colors that usually put her in a good mood seemed to mock her now, as she retrieved her backpack from the floor, then climbed on her bed. She was about to start her homework, before realizing she had none. _I'm stupid, too_, Cat thought, tears coming to her eyes again. She threw her backpack off of her bed, got under her covers, and buried her face into her pillow. _No wonder no one likes me._

And that was the first day of her life that Cat went to bed dreading the next day.

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So... there you go! Chapter two. Chapter three will be posted soon, if not today. I'll start working on it right away so I'll post it asap. I'm going to try to update even faster than I did on Run While You Can. And let me tell you, you guys should be very excited for the last chapter, because, let's just say, Jade's gonna do exactly what I'd have done to a lot of people if I knew I wouldn't get in trouble. So get your popcorn, because there's gonna be some extreme butt-kicking in the last chapter. I've still got a few ideas for this story, so I think this is going to be about five chapters long. Review and I'll update asap! Thanks everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

For anyone who was wondering, the Ryder who was picking on Cat in chapter one is none other than Mr. Ryder Daniels. That's right. -gasp-. He's not going to be picking on Cat anymore, because he can't get in a lot of trouble because if he had, he wouldn't have been a player because girls would've stayed away from him, and... yeah. Hopefully you get what I mean. So, moving on.

I'm gonna try to have this story done before the Blonde Squad comes out on Saturday. But can't can't work at all on Saturday because my cousin's graduation party is all day, my mom helps set up AND say goodbye to everyone. Kill me with a rock :/. So basically I have to finish by Friday. And I think I can do it, but reviews really do help! Enjoy the next chapter~~!

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The next day, Cat's morning classes passed by in a blur. Nothing happened that was worth noting, and she had managed to avoid Nick and Paul all day. That is, up until lunch period. The halls were vacant once again, and Cat had rushed to her brightly colored locker, wanting to get rid of her heavy books as soon as possible. After spinning the lock to match her combination, she quickly opened it and neatly placed her books inside, then grabbed her paper-bagged lunch. She then closed her locker, and turned on her heel to walk to the Junior Asphalt Cafe.

Only to find Nick and Paul standing side-by-side, grinning, and blocking her way.

"Hey, bitch," Paul sneered. "Find a weight loss program yet?" His grin grew even wider at that.

"I... I d-don't need one!" Cat stammered, trying her best to sound strong, and not exactly doing too well. She tried mimicking how Jade sounded when she talked-completely confident- but when she remembered that Jade hated her, she wasn't able to.

"Well, in that case, we'll help you out." Nick gave her an evil smile, and without warning, snatched her lunch from her hands. He glanced at Paul and mouthed, "Run," before dashing away, laughing.

"Don't worry! You must have some other talent then eating!" Paul sneered, before following Nick, laughing even harder.

Cat couldn't keep the tears from streaking down her cheeks as students began filing into the hallway. Desperate not to show anyone she was crying, she sprinted to the girls' bathroom and locked herself in a stall when she got there. She closed the toilet seat and sat down, burying her face in her hands, and let out all the sobs she had been holding in all day. _At least if they stole my lunch and I don't eat, I can't gain any weight_, Cat thought, trying her best to be optimistic.

It had only taken her about three minutes to snap out of her state of sadness, and she realized that if she didn't get to lunch soon, Jade would wonder where she was, even if she hated her. Cat thoroughly wiped her eyes, stood up, and walked out of the stall, doing her best to make it seem like she hadn't just been crying her eyes out as she made her way to the Junior Asphalt Cafe.

"Cat?" Cat heard Jade call her name as she walked out to the outdoor lunch area. She looked up from the ground to find Jade sitting at their usual table, alone. She walked over to her and sat down.

"What took you so long to get here?" Jade asked once Cat was sitting.

"Well, I had to um... bring all of my books to my locker, and they're really heavy because I have Language Arts before lunch, and then I had to go to the bathroom," Cat replied, somewhat proud of herself for thinking of the fake story off the top of her head.

"Mmm. Where's your lunch?"

"Well, I forgot it at home, but I'm not even hungry anyway, so I'm okay."

"C'mon, you can have some of mine," Jade offered, trying her best to be nice, and handing her a bright red apple. _Apples are healthy_, Cat thought.

"Thanks Jadey," Cat replied, taking the apple and smiling.

"Oh, and I have one more question, Cat." Jade said, still unnaturally kind.

"Okay...?" Cat was beginning to be unnerved by how sweet Jade was acting. She started nibbling at the apple Jade gave her.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or am I going to have to find out for myself?" Jade hissed, all traces of kindness gone.

"Why are you convinced something's wrong?"

"Because, one, you didn't have your lunch today, and you remember it _every _day. And two, you've been really quiet lately."

"Jadey, I told you, I forgot my lunch." Cat mumbled, again starting to nibble at the apple Jade gave her.

Jade couldn't help but notice Cat didn't say why she was being quiet lately.

_I guess that means I'm going to have to find out for myself._

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This one's a little bit longer than the last one. I promise, you are NOT going to be disappointed with what happens! If you REVIEW, you'll find out what happens sooner...! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, by the way! Reviews make my day!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews, everyone!  
AppleFlame12: I swear, literally two minutes before I looked at your review, I found out. And that really sucks because my mom is taking me on another road trip that weekend, so I'm gonna miss it. And now I'm officially sad D:.  
So, moving on...  
Wow. Over a thousand words, WITHOUT the author notes! Longest chapter I've ever written! Woo! This is the chapter where things start to get interesting... I really think you're going to like it!

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Jade had noticed something was off about Cat since the day she was silent in math. Then, after seeing her "forget" her lunch, she realized there really might be a problem. After that, Cat just seemed to be eating less and less. Meanwhile, Jade's curiosity was really starting to bother her, and she eventually decided that she really needed make a move to figure out what was wrong. Even if Cat didn't want her to.

Jade smirked as she walked into school a few minutes before the first bell rang, a plan already beginning to form in her mind.

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It would really be a huge understatement to say Cat was feeling guilty about lying to Jade about nothing being wrong. But she couldn't tell her anything, because she was afraid that Nick and Paul would do something really bad to her if she did and they found out about it.

The next day went by in a blur, as usual,and the bad part of her day this time happened before lunch, once again. It started when Jade walked up to her while she was at her locker.

"Hey, I've got to turn in a few papers into my teachers, so I'm not going to be at lunch with you the whole period, kay?" Cat simply nodded, and Jade walked off. Cat sighed as she realized that this left her as an open target for Paul and Nick.

Deciding to get everything over with, she headed to the Cafe.

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Jade hid behind one of the large pillars that supported the overhang over half of the Junior Asphalt Cafe, and decided to spy on Cat from there. Just as she had planned, Cat didn't think twice about Jade having to go see a teacher. She believed it easily, in fact, and so far everything was going well.

Jade peeked around from behind the pillar to find two kids approaching Cat. She remembered them as the snotty boys that she instantly hated from her Social Studies class. Nick and Paul. The annoying little rich brats. They were completely full of themselves.

Jade watched as they snuck up behind her, while the blonde dude, Nick, was carrying a small cup in his hands. After looking closely, Jade realized there was only ice in the cup. They seemed to be trying so hard not to laugh, while Cat was simply minding her own business, trying to enjoy her small lunch.

The problem didn't register in Jade's brain, until the brunette dude, Paul, opened the back of the neck of Cat's shirt, while Nick poured the ice inside.

Jade felt her jaw drop as Cat stood up with a long gasp, a completely shocked expression on her face. The guys started cracking up, the empty cup still in Nick's hand. Jade had noticed something was wrong before, but she didn't image the problem to be this bad. Cat immediately dashed away, inside the building, running directly past Jade after she finally got rid of the cold cubes down her back.

"That's right, fatso! Run!" Jade couldn't tell which of the boys said it, because she was already sprinting after Cat.

"Cat!" she called. She spotted her running into the girls' bathroom, and followed her inside. When she walked in, she was met with the heart-wrenching sight of tears running freely down Cat's cheeks while she sat on the floor, resting her head on the far wall.

"Jadey," Cat sobbed through her uneven breaths. Jade walked over to Cat and sat down next to her, then hugged her tightly.

"You should have told me," Jade whispered.

"I... I w-was s-scared they would h-hurt me more," Cat tried to talk through her tears.

"More?" Jade questioned, looking at her confusedly.

Cat pointed to the ugly bruise on her leg from where Paul had kicked her. Jade stared, wide-eyed, at the black and blue spot, feeling a look of complete shock cross her face.

She hugged Cat to her even more tightly as she felt shock replaced by anger. Pure fury. She could feel it boiling up inside of her and threatening to take over her mind. How could _anyone _treat Cat like this? How could anyone be so _heartless_ to be a complete jerk to a girl so innocent and sweet? No wonder she wasn't eating. She was convinced she was _fat _because of these stupid, immature, heartless, and bratty kids.

"Cat," Jade murmured. "I'm going to take care of this. Tomorrow at lunch, I'm going to be a little late, but you _have_ to sit down at our table and wait for me, okay?" Jade pulled back from her tight hug and looked Cat in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. "You have to _promise _me you're going to be there before I am."

Cat nodded as she stared back into Jade's icy blue eyes, wondering why this was so important.

Jade gave her another brief hug before standing up. "Good." She walked out of the bathroom before Cat could ask any questions. Cat couldn't help but wonder.

_What is she planning?_

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Jade smiled widely for the first time in a _long_ time as the bell rang for lunch the next day. After putting her books in her locker, grabbing her lunch money, and slipping it into her black jeans' front pocket, she headed out to the Cafe.

Standing behind the same pillar as she did yesterday, she saw Cat already sitting at the table, looking somewhat confused. _Probably wondering why I sounded so urgent before_, Jade reasoned. That was when Nick and Paul approached Cat and started talking to her. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew it wasn't good, because they were both laughing while Cat was looking helpless as ever.

_**No one** messes with **my** Cat._

She took a step away from her hiding spot as she felt anger boiling up inside of her once again, showing herself to the Cafe, although no one was looking in her direction. Not yet, at least. But _hell_, would they be _looking _in her direction soon.

Jade felt an evil smirk creep its way onto her lips.

_Time to shine._

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Heh. You guys are definitely going to love what's coming... I mean I don't wanna say that too much because I don't want to disappoint you if you don't, but yeah. Review and I'll update asap, maybe today! Tell me what you guys think! This is the _SECOND TO LAST_ chapter! Wanted to keep it short and sweet ;D.


	5. Chapter 5

I've literally been ITCHING to write this chapter since I started this story. Enjoy this chapter-I know I did~~!

Warning: If you don't like the idea of bullies having their asses kicked by Jade, do not read this chapter. But, if you have half a heart and feel bad for Cat, go right ahead :D.`~` (does anyone else like that face?)

Disclaimer: Sadly, no people were harmed in the making of this chapter. Well... as far as you know.

Enjoy~~!

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"Hey! You two!" Jade called unnecessarily loudly, walking towards the boys. She felt her evil smirk turn into a full smile as many heads all around the Cafe turned to see what was going on. The boys looked confused and caught off-guard, pointing to themselves, as if to confirm she was talking to them. Jade nodded, stopping a few feet away from them so she had a reason to talk loudly, so the entire Cafe could hear her.

"Really?" She let her evil smirk find its way back into her expression. "You've got _nothing_ better to do than pick on a girl _way_ more nice and talented than you both are, and _half _your size?" Jade laughed. "Sorry, but that's just low. Even for you brats." She put one hand on her hips as she waited for the guys' response.

They both seemed confused, but who could blame them? Some random girl who was smaller than both of them decided to stand up to them. Finally, Nick spoke, although his words didn't have the scary effect he clearly wanted. "Why don't you go and sit down before we bust you up?"

"_Ohhh_, I'd like to see you _try_, blondie." Jade's smirk was back for a split second, after half of the Junior Asphalt Cafe started giggling at Jade's nickname for Nick. The other half seemed to be scared for her life. "Two guys against one girl," Jade shrugged nonchalantly, "That seems about even." She glanced over at Cat, who was watching her intently, worry clear on her face. Jade offered her a small reassuring smile, before turning her gaze back to the boys.

"You'd better get outta here if you know what's good for you," Paul growled, his words low and dangerous.

"Nah," Jade made a hand gesture to show as if she was waving off the idea. "Actually, I think kicking your stupid asses would be pretty good for me, too."

Suddenly, Nick grinned. "All bark and no bite. See, I get you now. And you're gonna be real sorry." The boys moved forward so they were now less than an arms-length away from Jade.

"Bet I won't," Jade smirked. This time, her smirk didn't leave.

Even when Nick threw a hard punch straight to her nose.

The whole Cafe gasped as they saw the punch being thrown, while Cat nearly started crying, sure that her best friend was going to be instantly knocked unconscious. And, boy, were they all wrong. Everyone, including Cat, gasped once again as Jade swiftly but easily caught Nick's fist with her own hand.

"_Ohhh_, I don't _think _so," Jade snarled, smiling and twisting his fist, causing him to fall to his knees. She sent a hard kick to his stomach, causing his breath to be knocked out of him as he fell to the ground, trying desperately to catch his breath again.

Jade felt Paul try to grab her arms and put them behind her back, but spun around and snapped a high kick to his chest before he was able to do get a good grip on them. Everyone around was cheering for her by now, and Jade assumed they'd probably all been bullied at some point by them.

She spun around to face Nick, who was now up, and seemed like he was about to try to put her in a headlock. She gave an uppercut swing to the pressure point between his ribs, and he doubled over, the wind completely knocked out of him.

By that time, Paul was up again, and when he made a feeble attempt to throw one last punch, Jade grabbed his fist like how she did with Nick, hooked her combat boot behind his heel, and pushed him back, causing him to trip and fall backwards.

Everyone started chanting Jade's name as Nick tried his best to stand back up. Jade grinned and turned to him, pushing him back down to the ground with one hand. _This is going to get me tons of street credit_, Jade thought happily.

"You're not so big and strong now, huh?" Jade couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. "And if you don't get suspended or even expelled from this school, you're going to wish you had. Because, well, face it." she raised her voice a little louder than it already was, making sure the entire school could hear her. "The entire school in this cafe right now just saw you get your asses kicked. By a girl."

"Please, bitch," Paul mumbled, almost incoherently, ignoring the instant cheering her comment raised. "This isn't over."

Jade literally giggled out of pure joy, surprising everyone watching. "Yeah. Famous last words."

Jade then composed herself, her face now deadly serious. "I catch you so much as _glancing _in Cat's direction, and you're going to be wishing you were dead. Got it?" Both of the boys mumbled something completely incoherent as they began to sit up.

"Now get out of here before I have to publicly embarrass you again!" Her voice was now laced with venom and hatred.

The boys eyes instantly widened, and they quickly scrambled up from the ground and scampered away. "That's what I thought!" Jade called, as loud as she possibly could, after them.

Jade then walked over to Cat, who had been watching the whole time, and who was now standing up with an expression of pure shock and awe on her face.

"Don't listen to them, Cat. You're not fat, and you're beautiful the way you are." Jade murmured, looking Cat in the eyes. Cat threw her arms around her, embracing her tightly.

"Thanks, Jadey," Cat whispered into her ear.

Jade smiled and pressed a friendly yet comforting kiss to the top of her head.

"Cat, just please don't keep secrets from me from now on. Because I _promise_, whenever you need me, no matter what, I'll be there."

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And... done!

You gotta admit, Cat and Jade's friendship is extremely cute.

Let me just say, for the record, that I know(or at least _feel_ like) Jade was _way_ too sweet throughout this entire story. I just figured, under the circumstances, she'd be nice to Cat. Even so, I hope you liked it! I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed writing this.

Because I mean, c'mon, who _doesn't_ love when Jade kicks ass? I seriously wish they'd have her beat someone up on the show already!

I'm going to start my next story soon, called You Thought You Knew Me. I might change the title later, but that's it for now. The summary and info about stories I'm planning on writing are all on my profile if you slightly care, or even if you're just bored, and you need something to do. So, review and tell me how I did(or maybe what you think of the new story's summary)! Thanks everyone for all the reviews!

**~Kate**


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